Snore recording pillow

ABSTRACT

A snore recording pillow includes a pillow main body, and microphones provided in the pillow main body and connected to a recorder.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a Continuation Application of PCT application No. PCT/JP2006/302070, filed Feb. 7, 2006, which was published under PCT Article 21(2) in Japanese.

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from prior Japanese Patent Applications No. 2005-050723, filed Feb. 25, 2005; and No. 2005-073298, filed Mar. 15, 2005, the entire contents of both of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a snore recording pillow to record a snore while the user is sleeping.

2. Description of the Related Art

Recently, a sleep apnea syndrome, namely pauses in breathing during sleep, has attracted attention. The sleep apnea syndrome includes various cases: central apnea syndrome caused by a brain functional disorder, obstructive apnea syndrome caused by blockage of the respiratory tract during sleep, and the mixture of both the central apnea syndrome and the obstructive apnea syndrome. The sleep apnea syndrome may result in lack of sleep, even if the patient thinks he or she has slept enough. In this case, excessive daytime sleepiness will cause risks of, for example, traffic accidents.

It is considered that the sleep apnea syndrome is caused by serious snoring, which results in blockage of the respiratory tract, that is, the airway in the nose or a deep portion of the throat. The crucial cause of the sleep apnea syndrome is considered body fatness. When breathing pauses, the body is in conditions of oxygen deficiency; that is, oxygen is not sufficiently supplied to the body. Therefore, the lack of sleep as mentioned above will increase stresses and induce high blood pressure, myocardial infarction, cerebral infarction, etc.

In diagnosis of the sleep apnea syndrome, whether a pause of breathing for 10 seconds or longer during sleep occurs 10 times or more in 1 hour is a criterion. Therefore, when the patient receives the diagnosis, various sensors are attached to the face and hands, so that activities of abdominal muscles, brain waves, eyeball motions, a degree of saturation of oxygen in the blood, etc. are examined simultaneously according to the conventional art.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To receive the diagnosis of the sleep apnea syndrome by the method described above, the patient needs to go to a well-equipped hospital. Therefore, it is onerous to receive diagnosis of the sleep apnea syndrome. Thus, although the state of snoring during sleep greatly relates to health conditions, it is not easy to know conditions of snoring during sleep.

The present invention has been made provide a snore recording pillow, which enables easy and reliable recording of snores during sleep of the user, so that the conditions of snoring can be known.

The present invention provides a snore recording pillow comprising: a pillow main body; and microphones provided in the pillow main body and connected to a recorder.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a side view showing the state in which the user is using a pillow according to an embodiment of the present invention during sleep.

FIG. 2 is a partially sectioned view showing a part of the pillow on which the user's head is rested.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the pillow.

FIG. 4A is a perspective view showing a pillow according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4B is a perspective view of the pillow, which is adjusted in a higher support position.

FIG. 5A is a perspective view from above of a pillow, showing a state in which only a pillow main body is covered by an exterior cover according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5B is a perspective view from below of the pillow.

FIG. 6A is a perspective view from above of the pillow, showing a state in which the pillow main body and adjusting sheets are covered by the exterior cover.

FIG. 6B is a perspective view from below of the pillow.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view from below of a pillow according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 3 show a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a side view showing a state in which the user U lies on bedding 1, such as a mattress. The user uses a pillow 2 according to the present invention. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the pillow 2 has a pillow main body 3 made of an elastic material, for example a urethane foam. The pillow main body 3 is covered by an exterior cover 4 sewn into a bag shape.

The pillow main body 3 has bank portions 5 in both ends in the width direction, which are higher than the central portion. The central portion in the width direction serves as a rest portion 6, on which the head H of the user U is rested. Each of the pair of bank portions 5 holds a microphone 7 buried therein.

More specifically, the microphone 7 is buried in each of the bank portions 5 with a sound sensing portion 7 a directed inward in the width direction of the pillow main body 3. The microphone 7 is connected to a cord 7 b, which is led outside through a hole (not shown) provided in the exterior cover 4 and electrically connected to a recorder 8 (shown in FIG. 2), such as a radio cassette recorder or an IC recorder.

Thus, the microphones 7 are provided in the pillow main body 3 forming the pillow 2, and electrically connected to the recorder 8. Therefore, the recorder 8 can record snores of the user U during sleep.

The recorder 8 or a recording medium of the recorder 8, which records snores of the user U during sleep, can be brought to a doctor or the record can be transmitted by communication means or the like to have the doctor listen to them. Thus, the doctor can diagnose whether the user U has, for example, an apnea syndrome based on the snores during sleep.

Since a patient of the sleep apnea syndrome snores loudly, a medical specialist can diagnose whether the user U has the sleep apnea syndrome based on the recorded snores. Therefore, even if the user U is busy, he or she can receive diagnosis of the sleep apnea syndrome without going to hospital to take examination.

Abnormal snoring may be caused by not only the sleep apnea syndrome but also other diseases. Therefore, the other diseases can be detected by checking snores during sleep.

The pillow main body 3 is formed of elastic material, and the microphones 7 are buried in the pillow main body 3. Therefore, though the microphones 7 are provided in the pillow main body 3, the user is not likely to feel the hardness. Accordingly, the performance of the pillow 2 is little impaired.

The microphones 7 are provided in the bank portions 5 on both sides of the rest portion 6, on which the head H of the user U is rested. For this reason also, the head portion H of the user U is not liable to touch the microphones 7 provided in the pillow main body 3. Accordingly, the user U rarely feels uncomfortable.

Moreover, since the microphones 7 are provided such that the sound sensing portions 7 a in the paired bank portions 5 are directed toward the rest portion 6, the microphones 7 are located on both sides of the head H of the user U rested on the rest portion 6.

For this reason, the snore of the user U is recorded by the pair of microphones without fail. In addition, even if the direction of the head H is changed, the snore of the user U can be recorded without fail, because at least one of the microphones 7 faces the face of the user U. Thus, since the snore is recorded without fail, it is possible to reliably diagnose based on the snore whether the user U has the sleep apnea syndrome or not.

In the above embodiment, the bank portions are formed on both end portions in the width direction of the pillow main body. However, the bank portions may not necessarily be provided in the pillow main body. In this case, microphones can be buried in both end portions in the width direction of a substantially flat pillow main body.

Further, the microphones may not be buried in the pillow main body, but may be contained in bag portions that are formed in, for example, an exterior cover covering the pillow main body. In this case also, it is preferable that the microphones are provided in both end portions in the width direction of the pillow main body.

Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, the pillow main body is formed of elastic material, a urethane foam. However, the pillow main body may be mainly formed of material other than a urethane foam, for example, grain material of chaff or resin.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show a second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4A, a pillow 2A of this embodiment is substantially flat in the width direction, but the thicknesses vary from one end portion to the other end portion in the to-and-fro direction perpendicular to the width direction.

The height of the pillow 2A can be changed by height adjustment means 11, when the user uses it. The height adjustment means 11 comprises a plurality of height adjustment sheets 12, each having a thickness of, for example, about 1 cm. The height of the pillow 2 can be adjusted by stacking a required number of the sheets under the pillow 2A.

In this embodiment, as well as in the above embodiment, a pillow main body 3 of the pillow 2A is formed of elastic material, such as a urethane foam, and microphones 7 are buried in both end portions with sound sensing portions 7 a in distal ends thereof directed inward in the width direction of the pillow main body 3. The microphones 7 are connected to the recorder 8 as shown in FIG. 2.

Thus, the height of the pillow 2 is adjusted, so that the lying posture of the user U can be changed. For example, when the user U is sleeping on its back, he or she is lying with the pillow 2 at low height without using adjustment sheets 12, as shown in FIG. 4A.

There may be a case in which the recorder 8 records loud snores while the user U is sleeping on its back. In such a case, the cause of the snores may be the sleep apnea syndrome, any other disease, or the blockage of the respiratory tract because of the lying on its back.

Therefore, if loud snores are recorded, it is necessary to change the lying posture, which may be a cause thereof. As shown in FIG. 4B, a plurality of, for example, seven adjustment sheets 12 are put under the lower surface of the pillow 2, so that the height is, for example, 7 cm higher than that shown in FIG. 4A.

Using the pillow 2 thus thickened, the user U can lie on its side in a comfortable posture. More specifically, in the case of lying on its side, when a side head portion is rested on the upper surface of the pillow 2, one of the shoulders is directed downward. However, since the pillow 2 is kept high, the shoulder is not pressured and the user can lie on its side in a comfortable posture.

Snores in the case of lying on its side are recorded. Then, the snores recorded while lying on its side are compared with the snores recorded while lying on its back are compared. As a result of the comparison, if the snores in the case of lying on its side are less loud, it can be considered that the cause of the snores is the lying posture, that is, the airway is broadened by changing the posture to lying on its side. Further, if snores are recorded with the height of the pillow 2 being reduced from 7 cm to, for example, 5 cm, it is possible to know the height of the pillow 2, which may be less liable to cause snoring.

In this embodiment, the height adjustment means to keep the pillow at a height is not limited to the adjustment sheets. It may be an airbag, so that the pressure of the air filled therein is variable. Alternatively, the pillow may be used on a mount plate, whose height can be changed by a link mechanism. The point is that any means may be used as far as the height of the pillow can be adjusted.

FIGS. 5A, 5B, 6A and 6B show a pillow 2B according to a third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, when the height of the pillow main body 3 of the pillow 2B is changed by means of adjustment sheets 12, the adjustment sheets 12 can be held in an exterior cover 14 together with the pillow main body 3.

More specifically, the exterior cover 14 is made of, for example, elastic cloth, and sewn into a bag shape having an opening 15. The height dimension of the exterior cover 14 is greater than the height of the pillow main body 3, and smaller than the height of the pillow main body 3 plus the height of a plurality of, for example, seven adjustment sheets 12 put under the lower surface of the pillow main body 3, as shown in FIG. 6A. In this embodiment, the height dimension of the exterior cover is substantially the same as the height of the pillow main body 3 plus three adjustment sheets 12.

An insertion portion 16 is formed by sewing over all length of the inner periphery of the opening 15. An elastic cord 17, serving as slack removing means, is inserted through the insertion portion 16, as shown in FIG. 5B. The elastic cord 17 contracts to lessen the diameter of the opening portion 15 due to the restoration force. In other words, the length of the elastic cord 17 provided in the insertion portion 16 is shorter than the length of the insertion portion 16.

FIG. 5A is a perspective view from above, showing the case where the exterior cover 14 contains only the pillow main body 3, and FIG. 5B is a perspective view from below, showing the opening 15 of the exterior cover 14 located on the lower side of the pillow main body 3. In this case, since the exterior cover 14 contains no adjustment sheet 12, the height dimension is greater than the height of the pillow main body 3 and there is a surplus of the exterior cover. However, the elastic cord 17 contracts in the direction to lessen the diameter of the opening 15, so that the surplus portion can be gathered on the lower side of the pillow main body 3.

Therefore, even when only the pillow main body 3 is contained in the exterior cover 14, the exterior cover 14 contains the pillow main body 3 without considerable slack. Accordingly, the pillow 2 looks good in appearance and is kept comfortable to use. In addition, since the exterior cover 14 is made of elastic cloth, this also serves to prevent slack, because the exterior cover 14 contracts.

FIG. 6A is a perspective view from above, showing the case where the exterior cover 14 contains the pillow main body 3 and a plurality of adjustment sheets 12 together, and FIG. 6B is a perspective view from below, showing the exterior cover 14 containing seven adjustment sheets 12 on the lower side of the pillow main body 3.

The height of the pillow main body 3 plus the seven adjustment sheets 12 is greater than the height dimension of the exterior cover 14. Therefore, the elastic cord 17 provided at the opening 15 extends to enlarge the diameter of the opening 15 as shown in FIG. 6B, with the result that the exterior cover containing the pillow main body 3 and the seven adjustment sheets 12 absorb the increased height. Moreover, the elasticity of the cloth of the elastic cover 14 also absorbs the increased height.

Thus, since the exterior cover 14 covers the pillow main body 3 and the adjustment sheet 12 with substantially no slack, the pillow 2 looks good in appearance and is kept comfortable to use, because the exterior cover 14 does not loosen.

FIG. 7 shows a pillow 2C according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. The pillow 2C has a modification of the slack removing means. In the slack removing means of this embodiment, a cord member 21 made of non-elastic material fiber or the like, instead of the elastic cord 17 used in the second embodiment, is inserted through the insertion portion 16 formed in the exterior cover 14. Both end portions of the cord member 21 are led out of slits (not shown) formed in the insertion portion 16.

Therefore, with the configuration described above, if the height of the pillow changes depending on whether or not the adjustment sheets 12 are contained in the exterior cover 14 together with the pillow main body 3, the cord member may be tightened or loosened to change the diameter of the opening 15 in accordance with the change of the height. Thus, the exterior cover 14 is prevented from slacking.

According to the present invention, since the pillow main body contains microphones connected to a recorder, snores of the user during sleep can be recorded through the microphones. Therefore, it is possible to diagnose health conditions of the user, for example, whether the user has the sleep apnea syndrome or not, based on the snores. 

1. A snore recording pillow comprising: a pillow main body; and microphones provided in the pillow main body and connected to a recorder.
 2. The snore recording pillow according to claim 1, wherein the pillow main body is made of an elastic material, and the microphones are buried in the pillow main body.
 3. The snore recording pillow according to claim 1, wherein the pillow main body includes bank portions in both end portions in a width direction of the pillow main body, which are higher than a central portion, each of the bank portions holding one microphone buried therein with a sound sensing portion directed inward in the width direction of the pillow main body.
 4. The snore recording pillow according to claim 1, further comprising height adjusting means for adjusting a height of the pillow main body.
 5. The snore recording pillow according to claim 4, wherein the height adjusting means includes a thickness adjustment sheet having a predetermined thickness to be provided under the pillow main body; the pillow main body is covered by an exterior cover sewn into a bag shape having an opening portion, the exterior cover having a size adapted to contain the adjustment sheet; and the opening portion includes slack removing means for removing slack of the exterior cover by adjusting a diameter of the opening portion depending on whether the adjustment sheet is contained in the exterior cover along with the pillow main body. 